[verns]

I have really messed up my dell dimensino desktop, first by trying to install windows xp then numerous attempts at recovery, repair, cleaning, I am currently runnig the chkdsk /r for the third time. I fear I may have to start with a new install and wipe everything off the hard drive and of course I didn't heed all the "be sure to back up your data" warning (fool, I know, I know, kicking myself). I cannot access windows at all, it keeps taking me to the infamous 39 minutes remaining spot, looking for various files and devices I don't have on the reinstallation disk and I can't seem to get passed it. I wonder if there is a way to extract a few of my files (mainly photos and product keys) and get them on a cd from the c: prompt. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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Go to http://www.knopper.n...x/index-en.html and get a Knoppix OS and burn it to a CD. It's free.

Put the Knoppix CD in the CD drive of the computer you need to get data out of. Turn the computer on. Some computers will start the CD automatically, while others will act like it isn't there. If the CD boots just by putting it in your computer and turning the computer on, great.
If Knoppix does not start when the computer is turned on, first try restarting the computer. If that does not work, try pressing Del, ESC, F1, or F2. One of these keys should bring up either a menu from which you can select to boot from a CD, or the BIOS configuration. In the latter case, you will need to find the "Boot Order" in the bios configuration and make the CD drive first. The documentation that came with your computer should be helpful in finding this setting. After making this change and saving, restart the computer.Once Knoppix starts you will be presented with a web browser window. There is a button with an X in the upper right hand corner of this window. Click on it; the window will close. Your screen should the desktop and on the desktop you should have the hard disk partitions showing.

Find one labeled "Hard Disk Partition [hda1]" or "[sda1]" and click on it. This will bring up a window that looks similar to the Windows Explorer File Manager. This window will have a directory tree view on the left, and an icon view on the right. If the drive you found is your C drive, the icon view on the right will have some icons called things like "Program Files", "winnt", "windows", "My Documents", "recycled", "Documents and Settings", etc. If you are disappointed by what is on this drive, or you get an error message, close the window and try another one.

Rescuing Your Data

There are a number of options in this section which you can use to rescue your data.

1. Floppy Disk: This requires that you have a floppy disk drive and that the files you are trying to save are small.
2. Zip Disk or Other Removable Disk: This requires that you have a zip drive or other removable disk drive.
3. USB Keychain Drive or USB Hard Drive: This requires a USB drive connected to the computer.
4. CDROM: Burning files to a CD requires that you have two CD drives. You must have the CD drive that Knoppix was booted from and another CD drive that can write CDs.
5. E-mail: You need a working internet connection through a local area network.
6. Windows Networking: You need a working connection to a local area network, and another computer on the network with a shared folder that you can copy files to.
7. Another Hard Drive or Partition: You need another hard drive installed, or another hard drive partition onto which to rescue your data.

You can go to this website to read what you need to do with each choice you have above to rescue your data.

http://www.shockfami...cedric/knoppix/

SRX660

[SRX660]

Go to http://www.knopper.n...x/index-en.html and get a Knoppix OS and burn it to a CD. It's free.

Put the Knoppix CD in the CD drive of the computer you need to get data out of. Turn the computer on. Some computers will start the CD automatically, while others will act like it isn't there. If the CD boots just by putting it in your computer and turning the computer on, great.
If Knoppix does not start when the computer is turned on, first try restarting the computer. If that does not work, try pressing Del, ESC, F1, or F2. One of these keys should bring up either a menu from which you can select to boot from a CD, or the BIOS configuration. In the latter case, you will need to find the "Boot Order" in the bios configuration and make the CD drive first. The documentation that came with your computer should be helpful in finding this setting. After making this change and saving, restart the computer.Once Knoppix starts you will be presented with a web browser window. There is a button with an X in the upper right hand corner of this window. Click on it; the window will close. Your screen should the desktop and on the desktop you should have the hard disk partitions showing.

Find one labeled "Hard Disk Partition [hda1]" or "[sda1]" and click on it. This will bring up a window that looks similar to the Windows Explorer File Manager. This window will have a directory tree view on the left, and an icon view on the right. If the drive you found is your C drive, the icon view on the right will have some icons called things like "Program Files", "winnt", "windows", "My Documents", "recycled", "Documents and Settings", etc. If you are disappointed by what is on this drive, or you get an error message, close the window and try another one.

Rescuing Your Data

There are a number of options in this section which you can use to rescue your data.

1. Floppy Disk: This requires that you have a floppy disk drive and that the files you are trying to save are small.
2. Zip Disk or Other Removable Disk: This requires that you have a zip drive or other removable disk drive.
3. USB Keychain Drive or USB Hard Drive: This requires a USB drive connected to the computer.
4. CDROM: Burning files to a CD requires that you have two CD drives. You must have the CD drive that Knoppix was booted from and another CD drive that can write CDs.
5. E-mail: You need a working internet connection through a local area network.
6. Windows Networking: You need a working connection to a local area network, and another computer on the network with a shared folder that you can copy files to.
7. Another Hard Drive or Partition: You need another hard drive installed, or another hard drive partition onto which to rescue your data.

You can go to this website to read what you need to do with each choice you have above to rescue your data.

http://www.shockfami...cedric/knoppix/

SRX660

[verns]

Thanks for the quick response, I am still downloading Knoppix, will follow instructions and post the outcome, thanks again!

[verns]

Now I am a total incompetent, I downloaded Knoppix, then a "bit torrent" , the file shows on the CD but I cannot get the desktop drive to read it, I tried just starting the computer (4 times) then I changed the boot sequence to boot from the CD-Rom, now all it says is "no bood device available" I have NO clue where I went wrong, can you help again?

[SRX660]

You do NOT need bit torrent to get Knoppix. I do understand this may be a bit complicated to you. Please do not worry because since you did not burn a bootable Cd of knoppix, your computer does not know what to do. That is why it says " no boot device available".

Heres a tutorial on burning a ISO of knoppix to a cd so it will be bootable.

http://www.petri.co....files_to_cd.htm

Heres another tutorial that uses a different software to burn the ISO. I just added it here to help you understand what you are trying to do when you burn an ISO to a CD.

http://pcsupport.abo...burnisofile.htm

Now, after you burn a ISO of knoppix you should be able to follow the basic instructions of the cedric website to recover your data.

You can get the knoppix iso here.

http://www.knopper.n...s/index-en.html

You will have to click accept on the next page that comes up, then scroll down to where it says Knoppix V3.7-2004-12-08 EN iso, then left click on it and save it to a folder on your computer. Then you can use one of the above tutorials to burn the iso to a CD. After that, stick it in the cdrom drive and boot the computer. Now after reading the cedric website thoroughly you should be able to start saving files fro the hard drive after Knoppix boots up.

You may end up being the local computer GURU if you are not careful here about which friends you tell how you have saved your data from your dead computer. You will have dozens of friends then.

If you do not feel you can handle this i would suggest you find a shop that can do this. Personally i like doing this sort of thing because it makes me feel i have accomplished something most other people can't do.

If you don't understand just ask questions here. Someone will have an answer for you. I will be around to help when i can.

SRX660

[verns]

Holy Cow, it's like a miracle! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Your instructions were excellent! I downloaded Knoppix with "easy free" overnight as it took a long time, It opened right up in the desktop, I have thus far copied my photos to a DVD (I have 2 drives on the desktop, one for Knoppix and one to write to), I put the DVD into my laptop and confirmed the copy came out! WHOOHOO, I am so thrilled I cannot thank you enough. I have to spend quite a few more hours reviewing the files and deciding which to copy then testing to be sure I did it correctly but so far, so GREAT! I really appreciate your sharing your knowledge so graciously. I may need help again when it comes time to reinstall windows on the desktop but I will jump off that bridge when I get to it

[verns]

OK, all files burned to DVD's so I did a NEW install from my Dell "reinstallation disk" and I am at the same stupid spot I was before....39 minutes to go, setup cannot compete, file missing, clean CD (did) cyclic redundancy check. NOW WHAT?

[SRX660]

The most common time you will see the cyclic redundancy check error message is when trying to read data from a damaged CD or DVD. Just before it appears, your CD/DVD drive will probably grind and whirl away - your PC may also become a little slugglish.

Now i would beg borrow or any way possible, find a XP cd and install with it. You may have to set the boot order to boot from the CD. You can find all the drivers you need at the dell website.

SRX660

[verns]

And AGAIN, I thank you! I managed to get Dell to send me a new windows disk, not easy but persistence paid off. I loaded windows and all the devices and drivers, all the software for which I have disks, the documents and photos that I saved thanks to your advice, the last step is the software I burned to disks via knoppix....how do I install that? I can see the files on the disk but have NO clue how to get them installed on the desktop, can you help again? Hopefully this will be the last question in this series!

[SRX660]

The only way to install software back to the computer is by saving the executable files that was the original program. You should be able to copy the file back to the computer and then double click on it. You cannot save a program that has already been installed on the computer and you are trying to install from that installed program. You need to use the original program you downloaded.

For the reason stated above, whenever i download any program from the internet, i always back the file( or Files) up to CD's. This way if i ever have to reinstall the program i have the original executable to install with. I usually do this before i even install the program.

SRX660